Someone suggested we read this as a book club selection but figured “they were the last person on Earth to not have read it” but I was apparently living under a rock as I hadn’t even heard of Clarke’s magical read. With the pending BBC miniseries I was eager to see what all the buzz was about and was not disappointed.
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell are two magicians in England in the 1800s who are destined to bring magic back to England, the premise of the novel being that magic and fairies used to abound in this version of modern history.
If you think you are getting into something Harry Potter-esque, you are quite wrong. Magic in this novel is really moreso a branch of science and is freely studied by anyone who is curious, though the practice of magic has halted. Mr Norrell is the introvert who gives introverts a bad name: smart, reclusive, and socially awkward. Jonathan Strange is the flashier showman, charismatic and curious. Together they make quite a student and teacher, but the question is who is teaching who, and who is really learning. It really is a battle between old school thinking and new school thinking, but the real adversary is out to get them both. Who is the good guy? Is anyone? This is what the reader must decide for herself.
What I enjoyed most about this book were the little moments. Clarke does a wonderful job with crafting these little bits of humor and cleverness that keep you engaged.
This book starts out slow. Reeeealy slow. So slow you don’t even meet Strange until well into the book. I am an achievement oriented person so spending so much time on one book is unusual for me, but as a reviewer said on the back of the book, it is really the “kind of novel you live in.” With that in mind, I think this can be a really enjoyable read.
The first 150 pages were a slog for me, and then I raced through the rest. A gorgeous book. I particularly enjoyed the dig at Lord Byron.
Also coming out as a BBC miniseries this summer (or currently showing in the UK) and I couldn’t be more thrilled!